Brussels Sprouts Were Actually Bad: A Thread

When I was a kid, Brussels Sprouts were the go-to joke food when people talked about things they hated to eat.

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Now, though? I love them. I order them whenever I can at restaurants, and I'm thrilled when they're served at the holidays.

For years, I've believed that their negative reputation was due to poor preparation—not bad sprouts.

Our parents and grandparents just didn't know!

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But y'all, it turns out they WERE bad. They were bitter, smelly, and unpleasant. That was how Brussels Sprouts used to be.

The less-than-ideal preparation only exacerbated the issues inherently present in the sprouts themselves.

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Thankfully, in the 90s, a Dutch researcher figured out the chemical compounds producing those flavors, and then searched through seed archives to find heirloom varieties that didn't contain that chemical.

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He found some, and the process of cross-breeding with the mass-production varieties began.

The sprouts you find in stores today are actually better sprouts than were previously available.

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The Brussels Sprouts that I love today are products of that discovery and work!

If you (rightly and justifiably) hated Brussels Sprouts as a kid or adult, I promise it's worth giving them another shot.

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They're wonderful, and it took a surprising amount of effort to rehabilitate them!

Here's a lovely piece from NPR on the whole situation:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-plant-breeders-built-our-brussels-sprouts-bo

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